Statements by U.S. Officials

Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) following meetings at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ankara, August 8, 2007

Congressman Christopher Shays: (inaudible)… I’ve done a lot of listening. I think that one of our mistakes sometimes is that we don’t listen to people who know so much and your leaders know so much about this region obviously. I want to say how impressed we were with your elections. They were transparent. They were open. The victors accepted their victory with responsibility and those who lost accepted that the people had spoken. It doesn’t get better than that in a democracy, when you have such a transparency. I also want to say to you that we are, I am… and it doesn’t go unnoticed by our other members in Congress that you are a country that is thriving.  We rejoice in your economic growth. It only brings stability to your country and to the region and it is a market economy that is proving very successful combined with a very strong democratic institution. And let me just say that we appreciate all that Turkey has done for the region and the friendship that we have in the United States with this country.

I’d be happy to answer questions. I will tell you that my focus here was to understand about what Turkey feels is going on in Iraq, what we could be doing better, how we could achieve what we all want to achieve and that is a stable Iraq that allows us to begin to withdraw our forces, and a unified Iraq, not a divided Iraq. There is no one that benefits from seeing Iraq divided. So we have this common interest to see this country that could be a very strong and powerful country, succeed. I had meetings today with your government about those issues.

I’d be happy to respond to any questions that you might have.

Question: Yesterday Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Do you have any information about this document and what’s your evaluation about it? How will this affect the fight against the PKK

Representative Shays: Well, first off, it is a very powerful thing to see two nations, two neighbors interact in such a substantive way and to have stated what is the obvious – the PKK is a terrorist organization, plain and simple. And it may not have been worded as strongly as some in Turkey would like, but the message is clear. This is a terrorist organization and no good can come from allowing a terrorist organization to operate in a country. And Turkey has every right to take whatever action it needs to take with a neighbor that is tolerating such activity. Having said that, it is to the advantage of Iraq and Turkey and the United States to work this out collectively, to find common ground so that one country isn’t taking unilateral action. But Turkey has a right to expect that Iraq and the United States (inaudible) will deal with this issue and I think we will. And I think it was a very important day yesterday.

Question: We understand that the US is on the way to withdrawing troops from Iraq. In this regard, what kind of contribution can Turkey make?

Representative Shays: We are very dependant on Turkey’s influence and knowledge of the region, the fact that it is a neighbor, a vital and important neighbor, (inaudible). We will start to withdraw our troops because we do not have the capability to be there indefinitely (inaudible). We have lost close to 4000 Americans and I know that compared to what Turkey has lost to the PKK that seems like a small number but given that I as a politician sent these soldiers there I feel the responsibility.  We do not want to leave Iraq until Iraq is capable of dealing with its own problems. But it needs the help of its neighbors so the meetings that will take place in Istanbul with the foreign ministries of all the nations, that’s a very powerful contribution that Turkey is making. The fact that it gives legitimacy to this government in Iraq is a very powerful statement.  But in the end we need the Maliki government to have agreement on de-Baathification, to allow the Sunnis to participate. We need there to be an agreement on whether it is going to be a strong central government or a federation, but still one country, indisolvable, not divided up. They need to have an agreement on oil. (inaudible) and Turkey can have influence in encouraging the Maliki government to make peace with Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

Question: (inaudible question on Kirkuk)

Representative Shays: You don’t want to interfere but you want to encourage stability among neighbors. You want to offer assistance in any way you can offer assistance. That’s the bottom line.

I need to get on my way. Thank you all.

Question: What were your messages today to Turkish authorities?

Representative Shays: The first message was I’m here to listen. The second message was you know more about this area than I do; I’m here to listen.  The third message was what can you tell me that will help us do a better job; I’m here to listen. After I got through with that I just wanted to let your government know how much we in Congress appreciate the relationship. And we know that public opinion is not favorable towards the United States and we understand that and we understand why, but we are doing the very best we can do. Please understand that we are trying to do our very best.

Thank you all very much.